Knitting of garments

ABSTRACT

A method of knitting a blank for making up into a garment wherein a body in the form of non-tubular flat fabric and sleeves formed integrally with one another and are joined together during knitting by progressively taking needles out of action whilst still holding knitted loops located along sleeve-body join lines and progressively reintroducing those needles so that the sleeves lie at an angle to the body in the finished garment.

Betts et al.

[ May 13, 1975 KNITTING OF GARMENTS Inventors: Max William Betts, Coventry; Frank Robinson, Borrowash, both of England Filed: Dec. 6, 1972 Appl. No.: 312,710

Foreign Application Priority Data Dec. 7, 1971 United Kingdom 56765/71 Related U.S. Application Data Continuation-impart of Ser. No. 126,521, March 22, 1971, abandoned.

[56] References Cited FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 452,770 /1968 Switzerland 66/176 Primary ExaminerRonald Feldbaum Attorney, Agent, or FirmGasper C. Schneider, Jr.

57 ABSTRACT A method of knitting a blank for making up into a garment wherein a body in the form of non-tubular flat fabric and sleeves formed integrally with one another and are joined together during knitting by progressively taking needles out of action whilst still holding knitted loops located along sleeve-body join lines and progressively reintroducing those needles so that the iii3T:JJ::3:JJJ:J:3::JJJJJJJjJiiJjJJJJJJJJJ.fiillfifilfii gi e he eh eh ehehe he he hehy hh hhe hhhhee Field of Search 66/174, 175, 176, 189 22 Claims 19 Drawing Figures W- m 22d 6 24a 24b 22C 244 32a 32b 32c 324 26a 26b 30 26c E: llllllllllIllllllllll|Illllllll|IIllll|llllIIIIIll|lIllIIIIlllllllllll|lllllllllllllllllllllllll|| Pmfm uumslszs 2.882.697

SHEET 0 2 9F 13 FIG. 2a. FIG. 21

/%H [MAL-14H REFTS Flew/4 Foal/v60 IN VE N TOPS B Y Dd-w} $4 2 r ATTORNEYS FATENTED HAY I 3l975 SHEET U3UF 13 INVENTORS PATENTED RAY I 3 I975 SHEET CHEF 13 r a/wz F am/ IN VE N TOPS y pm 5 am W 7 m AT TORNEYS PATENTEB RAY I 3 I875 SHEET EBUF 13 FEM/VIC Yea/-50 IN VE N TOPS y AY/s W 6 $9M ATTORNEYS PATENIEDHAYISIQYS 3,882,697

SHEET [WM 13 I9 100 I l H l I I18 1 102 l i I l o 106 I 1 03 I04- I08- I 109 l I 5 lg"! H0 HI I I f M FIG. 7

MAX WILL/H 725735 K Yea/M50 /N VE N TORS y M 1% WM ATTORNEYS PATENIED HAY I 3 I975 SHEET UBUF 13 M WILL/AH 735773 Fag 4 72oB/N5o/V //v vE/v TOPS Dim) M b wd ATTORNEYS gsz FIG. 12'

KNITTING OF GARMENTS This application is a continuation-in-part of our application Serial No. 126,521 filed Mar. 22nd, 1971 now abandon.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to knitted garments having sleeves.

Hitherto such garments have normally been made by one of two methods. In one of these methods, flat or tubular knitted fabric is cut into shapes which are secured together, usually by stitching, to form the garment. In the other method, the component pieces of a garment are knitted to shape and are then secured together to make the garment.

In both these methods considerable labour is involved in making up the garment and in the first method a considerable quantity of fabric is cut to waste, sometimes 40 percent of the total fabric used.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention reduces the amount of making up involved in the production of a sleeved garment compared with the known methods outlined above.

According to one aspect of the invention a method of making a blank for production of a garment, comprises the steps, in either order, of knitting a piece of non-tubular flat fabric to serve as a body for the garment, said piece of fabric comprising substantially all parts of the front and rear of the body, and knitting said piece of fabric so that knitted wales extend therein in the direction from the waist to the neck of the garment, forming sleeves for the garment by knitting at least one piece of non-tubular flat fabric having knitted wales extending in the longitudinal direction of the sleeves, said sleeve fabric including pieces of fabric each of which comprises substantially the whole fabric for a sleeve, knitting said body and sleeve fabrics so that they are integral with one another and during knitting taking needles out of action progressively along at least one sleeve-body join line whilst maintaining knitted loops on these needles and then progressively re-introducing the needles to knitting action whereby wales of the sleeve fabric joined to wales of the body fabric lie at an angle to those wales of the body fabric in the finished blank.

By the term piece of flat fabric is meant a sheet of fabric not in the form of a tube. Such a piece of fabric can be formed by reciprocal knitting on a circular array of needles in a circular knitting machine but will not, whilst it is on the needles of the machine lie in a plane.

Preferably, two separate pieces of sleeve fabric are knitted in making the blank, each adapted to form a complete sleeve for a garment.

The sleeve fabrics may be joined to the body fabric during knitting in such a way that all the sleeve-body seams required in the finished garment are formed on the knitting machine. Alternatively, some only of the sleeve-body seams required in the finished garment may be formed on the knitting machine leaving one or more of these seams to be formed after the knitting of the body and sleeve fabrics has been completed.

After the knitting of the integral flat body and sleeve fabrics, two edges extending longitudinally of each sleeve fabric are joined together in order to form the sleeves. If the garment is to be a sweater, two edges of the body fabric extending from the waist to underarm or neck of the body fabric are joined to form the body. If the garment is to be a lumber style, such a seam is unnecessary.

According to a further aspect of the invention, a method of making a blank for production of a garment comprises the steps, in either order, of machine knitting a piece of nontubular fiat fabric to serve as a body for the garment, said piece of fabric comprising substantially all parts of the front and rear of the body, and knitting said piece of fabric so that knitted wales extend therein in the direction from the waist to the neck of the garment, forming sleeves for the garment by knitting two pieces of tubular fabric on opposed needle beds of the machine, said pieces of tubular fabric having wales extending longitudinally of the sleeves, each of said pieces of tubular fabric comprising substantially the whole fabric for a sleeve, knitting said body fabric and said sleeves so that they are integral with one another by knitting a part of each sleeve and an associated part of the body so that wales are continuous between each of the said sleeve parts and its associated body part, and during knitting taking needles out of action progressively along at least one sleeve-body joint line whilst maintaining knitted loops on those needles and then progressively re-introducing the needles to knitting action whereby wales of the sleeves joined to wales of the body lie at an angle to those wales in the finished blank.

The invention includes a method of making a garment by making a blank by either of the methods described above and subsequently making up and finishing the blank to form a garment. The invention further includes a blank made by either of the methods described above and a garment made by the method just referred to.

Advantageously, parts of the upper edge of the body not integrally joined to the sleeves and the parts of the shoulder regions of the sleeves not integrally joined to the body are shaped to conform to one another for linking or seaming together to make up the blank into a garment.

The fabric blanks of the present invention are knitted on knitting machines having take-down mechanisms, or mechanisms serving in place of take down mechanisms, which allow knitting to be carried on over a considerable number of courses on needles of the machine whilst adjacent needles holding loops of the fabric are maintained out of action. For example, a machine having web holding sinkers can be used or a flat V-bed knitting machine having hold-down elements such as are described in U.S. Pat. Specification No. 3,613,401 can be used. Such hold-down elements are carried on a single member which is so mounted that it can be moved to bring the two hold-down elements alternately into an operative position in which the operative element extends beneath active needles of the opposed arrays of latch needles of the knitting machine, the said member being arranged to carry the hold-down elements along the arrays of needles in synchronism with the actuation of the needles and the operative holddown element being arranged to hold-down the knitting so that opened latches move up through the loops on the needles as the needles rise during knitting and are closed by the loops as the needles descend.

The blanks may be formed in rib knitting or plain knitting and the plain knitting could be knitted on machines having a single array of needles or two opposed arrays of needles.

If a flatV-bed knitting machine is used in knitting the blank, the machine preferably incorporates a yarn storage device for supplying yarn to the yarn carriers such as is described in U.S. Pat. application Ser. No. 92993 filed on Nov. 27th, 1970 and assigned to the same assignee as the present application which allows courses of knitting of widely different lengths to be knitted satisfactorily with the same traverse movement of the cam carriage and yarn feeders.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 4 illustrates the method of making up the blank of FIG. 1 to form a garment,

FIG. .5 illustrates a further method according to the. invention of knitting a blank for a sleeved garment,

FIG. 6 illustrates the method of making up the blank of FIG. to form a garment, I

FIGS. 7 and 8 illustrate two further different methods according to the invention of knitting blanks for sleeved garments,

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a garment blank knitted, according to a still further method according to the invention.

FIGS. 10A 10F are diagrams illustrating the positions of knitted loops on the needles of the opposed needle beds of a flat V-bed knitting machine at various stages during the carrying out of the method illustrated in FIG. 9,

FIGS. 11 and 12 are diagrams similar to that of FIG. 9 illustrating yet further methods according to the invention of knittinggarment blanks, and

FIG- 13 is a view of one form of yarn storage device which can be used in a flat V-bed knitting machine for carrying out the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS All the methods of knitting a garment blank to be derib configuration. Knitting of the sleeve fabrics 21,22

is then continued and each sleeve fabric is widened as/. k shown in Section B of the Figure by introduction of 1x scribed are carried out on a flat V-bed knitting machine having hold-down elements as described in US. Pat. specification No. 3,613,401 and a looper arrangement for supplying yarn to the yarn carriers such as is described in the aforesaid US. Pat. application Ser. No. 92993. One embodiment of that looper arrangement is described hereinafter with reference to FIG. 13. The other elements of the knitting machine can be similar to those of known flat V-bed knitting machines.

In such machines independently operable needles are arranged in tricks in two parallel needle beds inclined at an angle of approximately 100 to one another. The needles have butts arranged for engagement by cam tracks in cam boxes reciprocable to-and.-fro along the beds of the machine. Yarn carriers supplying yarn to the needles from stationary bobbins mounted on the machine are shifted along the beds by the cam boxes.

The present machine has the capability of'using' four a single. traverseof the cam] different yarn carriers in boxes.

A known selection mechanism enabling needles to be selectedfor knitting or inactivity is incorporated in the machine.

The needles of the. machine for knitting the present blank are of a kind capable of transferring loops-carried g V V on them to needles of the opposite bed. Needles of this. i I l kind are'well known and are described, for example, in

British Pat. specification No. 1,123,630. Areview of; a f loop transfer techniques is given in the article Fundaf mentals of Loop Transfer by Charles Reichman, pub 1 lished in Knitted Outerwear Times dated "16th Au -f, j

gust 1965. I

In knitting the blank illustrated in FIGLI, knitting is commenced at the cuffs 19 of both sleeves of the. gar-3 ment and on both beds of the machine and'the cuffsare V r I knitted as flat fabric in 2 X2 rib as shown in Section A f; I of FIG. 1. At the end 20 of each cuff, previously inac- I tive needles between the needles holding loops are'in-.

troduced to bring the fabric of each sleeve to, a 'l .X'l

needles at both edges of the sleeve fabric. a

The cuffs can be knitted in rib configurationother 1 j than 2 X Zrib and the main part of each sleevefabric I i can be knitted in a stitch configurationother than 1 X' Y l rib. If the main part is knitted in single jersey'fabric c it is necessary to transfer all the loops to needles of one s i i bed after knitting the cuffs by operating the needles to v 1 t ansferloops in known manner. I

In section C of FIG. ll,nee,dle introduction at the; edges of the sleeve fabrics is continued, but the. needles I on both beds holding loops of the sleeve fabrics are I taken out of action after successivecourses commencfl ing at the centre 23 of each sleeve fabric;The number) of needles taken out of action after each course is divided equally on both sides of the centre poin'tiof each g sleeve fabric and the fashioning lines 24a 24d produced by the action of removing the needles from knitting activity are thus symmetricallydisposed about the centre line of each sleeve fabric. The numberof'nee-y Q I dles taken out of action after each course is so chosen that the fashioning lines 241a 24d meet the edges of the sleeve fabrics at points 25 where the sleeve fabrics.

meet the upper edge of the body fabric 26 of the garment.

During the knitting illustrated in Section Cof FIG. i I yarn, is supplied successively from four differentyar n i I carriers as the cam carriage executes each traverse of the needle beds. One carrier supplies yarn forthe knitting of the sleeve panel 2111, the second for the knitting] I of panel 21b the third for panel 22c and the fourth for panel 22d. The order of knitting the panels in the suc-" ceeding course on the next traverse of the cam boxes in the opposite direction is of course reversed. I

When the sleeve fabrics have been knitted. to the I I joints 25, knitting of the body of the garment as apiece I I of flat fabric is commenced by casting on of loops along r the upper edge portions 27, 28 and 29 of the body fabric. The knitting of the first section of the body fabric.

is illustrated in Section D of FIG. 1 and over this section three yarn carriers are used to supply yarn for the I ,1 panels 26a, 26b and 26c of the body fabric. During the" knitting of the panels 26a to. 26c, the needles rendered l inactive progressively during knitting of the sleeve fabsleeve fabrics are rendered active once more so that symmetrical fashioning lines 32a 32d marking the reintroduction of the needles are produced on the body fabric.

1 The sleeve fabrics 21, 22 are thus joined to the body fabric 26, by the knitting process, along the lines 24a 24d 32a 32d, the loops on these lines being joined to one another as is indicated in FIG. 1 by the lines 33. Because of the fashioning procedure described in which needles holding loops are progressively taken out of action and then reintroduced, the walls of the sleeve fabrics are caused to lie at an angle to the wales of the body fabric to which they are joined. The term fashioned join lines is used in this Specification to mean join lines produced in the manner first described.

After completion of the sleeve-body joins, all the needles holding loops now being active again, knitting of the body fabric as flat fabric in l X l rib is continued over Section B of FIG. 1 using a single yarn carrier to supply yarn to all the needles holding loops.

When the course 34 is reached, the needles are operated to transfer loops to form a 2 X 2 rib configuration for the knitting of the waist band 35 shown in Section F of FIG. 1. A few courses of waste yarn not shown, are then knitted and the garment blank is pressed off the needles.

The making up of the blank into a garment is illustrated in FIG. 4 where the blank is shown in broken lines in the same configuration as in FIG. 1. In this configuration, the sleeve and body fabrics are shown flat for convenience of illustration but in fact the sleeve and body fabrics are joined to one another along the lines 24a 24d and 32a 32d and the points 23 in the sleeve fabrics are thus joined to the points 30 in the body fabric. If therefore the portion 36 of the body fabric is folded over the rear portion of the body fabric so that edge 37 lies at 38, then the joined lines 24a and 3211 will lie on top of the lines 24b and 32b and the sleeve 21 can be folded so that the edge 39 lies on top of the edge 40.

Similarly, the portion 43 of the body fabric can be folded over the rear portion of the body fabric so that the edge 44 lies along the line 45 and, in the present instance, beneath the portion 36. The sleeve 22 can then be folded so that the edge 42 lies on top of the edge 41.

In order to complete the garment, the courses of waste yarn attached to the waist band are unravelled, the bottom edge of the waist band is turned in and hemmed or is linked. The edges 39 and 40 and 41 and 42 are joined to one another, for example by sewing or linking andfinally, the overlapping portions of the body front adjacent the lines 45 and 38 are provided with buttons and button holes to complete a lumber style garment.

Garments in different styles can be made by knitting the body fabric in different shapes. In FIG. 2a is illustrated one half of a blank for a garment in jacket style and in FIG. 2b is illustrated one half of a blank for a garment with a cardigan front.

The blanks of FIGS. 1, 2a and 2b can be knitted in the direction from waist to cuffs in which case the sleeve fabrics are shaped by narrowing operations in which loops on outermost needles are transferred to the next inward needles of the opposite bed.

'cally disposed with respect to the centre lines of the FIG. 3 illustrates the knitting of a blank for a lumber syle garment in which the sleeve fabrics are knitted as integral parts of a larger sheet of fabric at least a part of which is subsequently cut away to leave the fabric which is subsequently formed into the sleeves.

If the larger sheet of fabric of which the sleeve fabrics are a part is knitted so as to be bounded by the chaindotted lines 48 and 49 and the line 50 which passes through the ends of the cuffs, then the three fabric pieces 51, 52 and 53 (shown cross-latched in FIG. 3) must be cut away to leave the shaped sleeve fabrics 54 and 55. This method of knitting the blank obviates any necessity to widen or narrow the sleeve fabrics during knitting between cuff and underarm.

If the larger sheet of fabric is knitted so as to be bounded by the sleeve fabric edges 56 and 57 and the line 50, then only the fabric piece 52 has to be cut away to leave the sleeve fabrics but in this case the fabric must be widened or narrowed (depending on the direction of knitting) along the edges 56 and 57.

The knitting of the body fabric of this blank is carried out in the same manner as for the blank of FIG. 1, and after removal from the knitting machine and cutting away of the pieces of waste fabric, the blank is made up into a garment in the same manner as described in relation to FIG. 4.

The method of knitting a blank illustrated in FIG. 5 produces a blank in which the longitudinal seams which complete the sleeves after removal of the blank from the knitting machine are located on the undersides of the sleeves and not on the upper sides of the sleeves as is the case with the blanks of FIGS. 1, 2 and 3.

In knitting the blank of FIG. 5, knitting can be commenced at the cuffs 60 in 2 X 2 rib using two yarn carriers and after completion of the cuffs is continued in l X l rib with selvedge widening of the sleeve fabrics 61 and 62. After the widest part 63 of the sleeve fabrics has been reached the sleeve fabric 61 is narrowed along the edge 64 by inward transfer of outer loops to other needles already carrying loops of the fabric. The sleeve fabric 62 is similarly narrowed along the edge 65. At the same time, needles holding loops of the sleeve fabric 61 are progressively taken out of action from the edge 66 of this fabric thereby producing shaping of the fabric along the line 67, all the loops along this line being held on inactive needles at the moment when the knitting of the sleeve fabric 61 is completed. Similarly, needles holding loops of the sleeve fabric 62 are progressively taken out of action from the edge 68 of this fabric to shape the fabric along the line 69.

As an alternative to shaping the fabric by narrowing along the edges 64 and 65, needles can be progressively taken out of action starting at the outermost stitches of each sleeve until at the course 72 all the held loops along the edges 64 and are pressed off together.

At the course 72, knitting of the body fabric is commenced using three yarn carriers and the needles holding loops along the line 67 are progressively reintroduced starting at the centre point 74 of the sleeve fabric 61. Similarly, the needles holding loops along the line 69 are progressively reintroduced starting at the centre point 75 of the sleeve fabric 62. Thus, the body fabric is shaped along the lines 76 and 77 and the loops along these lines are joined by the knitting process to the sleeve fabric loops along the lines 67 and 69. This joining is indicated in the drawing by the vertical lines 78.

The sleeve-body joins along the lines 67, 77 and 69, 76 are thus fashioned join lines and extend from underarm positions to the neck in the garment.

The body fabric is also shaped by needle introduction to form edges 79 and 80 corresponding to edges 64 and 65, to which edges they will later be joined to form raglan style lines extending from the underarm positions to the neck in thefmished garment.

After the course 83, knitting of the body fabric is continued using a single yarn carrier and the body fabric is finished with a waist band 84 in 2 X 2 rib and after knitting of a few courses of waste yarn (not shown) the blank is pressed off.

The finished blank comprises a unitary portion 73 constituting the front or rear of the body and having attached integrally to its opposite side edges two further body portions 90 and 92 together constituting the rear or front of the body. The sleeve fabrics 61 and 62 are joined to the further body portions 92 and 90, respectively.

The blank is made up into a garment in the manner illustrated in FIG. 6. The points 85 and 86 on the sleeve fabrics are already joined, as indicated by the lines 78, to the'underarm regions 87 and 88 of the body fabric 73. The portion 90 of the body is folded so as to lie (as is shown in FIG. 6) beneath the adjacent part of the main body portion 91 and thesleeve fabric 62 is folded along the line 93 to bring the edge 65 of the sleeve fabric into juxtaposition with the edge 80 of the body fabric. The portion 92 of the body is also folded so as to lie (as is shown in FIG.6) beneath the half of the body portion 91 adjacent the portion 92 and the sleeve fabric 61 is folded along the line 94 so that the edge 64 of the sleeve fabric is in juxtaposition with the edge 79 of the body fabric. The body and sleeve fabrics are then joined along the edges 64, 79 and 65, 80 and the sleeves are completed by joining the edges 66, 95 and 68, 96. The joining may be effected, for example, by linking or seaming.

The resultant garment is a raglan style lumber coat in which the body-sleeve joins at the front of the coat are knitted joins whereas those at the back of the coat are linked or seamed.

The coat can be made in different styles, for example, with a cardigan front or in ajacket style by shaping the body fabric in a different way.

The knitting of a blank for a jumper is illustrated in FIG. 7.

Knitting is commenced at the cuffs 100 and the sleeve fabrics 101, 102 are widened and then narrowed along the edges 103, 104 whilst needles holding sleeve fabric loops are progressively taken out of action starting at points 105 and 106. At course 107 knitting of the body fabric using two yarn carriers is commenced and the needles holding loops along the lines 108, 109 of the sleeve fabrics are progressively brought back into action starting atthe points 110, 111 to form fashioned sleeve-body join lines extending from underarm positions to the neck in the garment. The body fabric is shaped by needle introduction along the edges 119, 120. At the underarm regions 112, 113 all the needles are active again and knitting of the body fabric 114 is continued using one yarn carrier.

The blank is made into a jumper by folding the body portion 115 constituting for example the front of the body to lie on top of the body portion 116 constituting for example the rear of the body and folding the sleeve fabrics 101 and 102 along the lines 117 and 118 sothat g the edge 104 of sleeve fabric102 is. juxtaposed to the edge 119 of'the body fabric and the edge 103 of sleeve fabric 101 is juxtaposed to the: edge 120 of'th'e. body 1 fabric. The edges 104 and 119 are joined together as are the edges 103 and 120, to form further sleeve-bodyi' joins extending from the underarm positions to the neck. The free longitudinal edges of the sleeve fabrics are also joined together as are the free side edges of the I body .fabricto produce [a raglan style jumper. One body-sleeve join at the front and one at the back are knitted joins and the other joins at front and back are": I completed after knitting, for example by linking orl seaming.

A method of knitting a blank to produce a jumper in; 1 which both body-sleeve joins at the back are knitted j i and both joins at the front are completed iniano ther 7 manner is illustrated in FIG. 8. Knitting is commenced at the cuffs and fabric 127 being in the position shown in chaindotted lines in the Figure. The knitting machine used incarry I i ing out the method illustrated in FIG. 8 has twolse'lcondary beds movable longitudinally of the main beds and r the sleeve fabric 127 is knitted on needles of the secon- I I dary beds. 9

Such a knitting machine is produced by EdouardDuf'l I bied et Cie. S.A. of Switzerland and is described in th eif method. In knitting the blank of FIG. 8, the, sleeve fabrics are shaped by narrowing along edges 128 a'nd129 i and needles are taken outofaction along lines 130and I 131 commencing at the points 134 and 135. When the knitting reaches the points 136 and 137 onlythe'loop s v along the lines 130 and 131 are still held on needles of H the machine and the secondary beds are now shogged to the position shown in to move the sleeve fabric 127 full lines in FIG. 8.

Knitting of the body fabric 138is now commenced I using needles of the main and secondary beds and using I two yarn carriers. The needles taken out of action along lines 130, and 131 are progressively reintroduced starting at points 136 and 137 (full line positionl to J. form fashioned sleeve-body join lines extendingfrom underarm positions to the neckin the garment. The body fabric is shaped by needle introduction along the: I edges 139 and 140 and after course 141 the knitting of v the body fabric is continued using a single yarn carrier. I

To make a garment from this blank, the portion 144 v I constituting for example thefront ofthe body is folded; I to lie on top of the portion 145 constitutingfor example I the rear of the body and the sleeve fabricsarefolded along lines 146 and 147 so that sleeve fabric edges 128 V and 129 are juxtaposed with body edges 140 and 139,; respectively. These edges are then joined as the free edges of the sleeve fabrics and the juxtaposed *free edges of the body fabric to complete a raglan'istyle {If jumper, the further joins extending from the underarm positions to the neck.

iscontin i ued along the sleeve fabrics 126 and 127, the sl'eeve sleeve fabric 127 is again knitted contemporaneously with the sleeve fabric 126 in the position shown in chain dotted lines and, if the sleeve fabric is a rib fabric, when the stage is reached at which the loops along the line 131 of the sleeve fabric 127 are held on the needles, the loops of this sleeve fabric are transferred to needles of one bed and the loops along the line 130 of the sleeve fabric 126 are transferred to needles of the other bed. One bed is then shogged relative to the other bed of the machine in known manner, for example using a lead screw, until the sleeve fabric 127 is in the position shown in full lines in FIG. 8 and knitting is then continued in single jersey or rib as described above.

The method illustrated in FIGS. 9 and A 10F is carried out on a flat V-bed knitting machine having opposed needle beds 307 and 308 containing needles 306. When commencing production of the blank at the waist 310 of the body, knitting of a piece of flat fabric to constitute the body portion 31 1 is started on empty needles of the needle bed 307 (FIG. 10A). Starting up to knit on empty needles is facilitated by use of the hold-down elements referred to above and a few courses of waste yarn are first knitted followed by one of the unrovable set ups described in U.S. Pat. application Ser. No 197288 filed on Dec. 8th 1971 and assigned to the same Assignee as the present application. Knitting of the body is then continued using a known mock rib structure incorporating an elastomeric yarn until a waist band has been formed. Knitting of the major area of the body portion is then continued in a plain-knit structure, as illustrated in FIG. 10A, until the course 312 is reached (FIG. 9). Additional yarn carriers are then introduced to allow the knitting of pieces of fabric 313, 314 and 315 using a separate yarn carrier or carriers for each piece of fabric.

During this stage of the knitting, needles are progressively taken out of action in opposite directions from each of the points 316 and 317 so that the fabric pieces 313, 314 and 315 are shaped along edges 318 321. The edges 318 and 321 lie along the peripheries of parts of the body subsequently to be joined integrally with the sleeves in the knitting operation. The loops on the needles made inactive may be cast off as each needle is taken out of action or the loops may be held on the inactive needles until the course 324 is reached when the inactive needles are brought back into action to cast off their loops together. Holding up loops for a collective cast off is indicated in FIG. 9 by the vertical lines 325 which are intended to show that the loops along the lines 319 and 320 are held on the needles until the course 324 is reached.

FIG. 10B illustrates the situation at the course 326 where some needles 27 have been made inactive during knitting the fabric pieces 13, 14 and 15. In FIGS. 10A 10F, knitted loops held on active needles are shown as circles whereas knitted loops held on needles which are not taking part in the knitting action at the stage of knitting illustrated are shown as squares. Where loops are shown as circles of dots, this indicates that the loops have just been cast off the needles. FIGS. 10A 10F are purely diagrammatic and in particular, to simplify these Figures, the number of knitted loops shown has been greatly reduced compared with the number of loops in an actual garment.

FIG. 10C illustrates the situation at the course 324 where knitting of the fabric pieces 313, 314 and 315 has been completed.

Alternatively, instead of knitting the garment on one bed of needles in single jersey up to the course 324, the body portion of the garment, including the fabric pieces 313, 314 and 315 can be knitted as rib fabric on needles of both beds 307 and 308. In such a case, after knitting of the course 324, loops carried on the needles of the bed 308 are transferred to empty needles of the bed 307. For this purpose, an empty needle may be left in the bed 307 between each pair of loop-holding needles of the bed. That is half-gauging may be adopted for knitting the rib fabric. The loops on needles of the bed 308 are then transferred to empty needles of the bed 307. The arrangement of loops is then as shown in FIG. 10C and further knitting can follow in the manner described below.

Alternatively, if half-gauging is not employed in knitting the rib fabric, doubling of loops will occur when transferring loops from needles of bed 308 to those of bed 307.

After the course 324 is reached, FIG. 10C, the needles are operated to cast off the held loops of the fabric piece 314 as well as the central loops 329 of this piece of fabric held on needles active up to the course 324. The loops 330 and 331 held on active needles are also cast off. These loops are at the ends of wales in the parts of the body portion 31 1, located near the free side edges thereof, such side parts extending inwards to the points 332 and 333 (FIG. 9). The situation at this stage of the knitting is illustrated in FIG. 10D where the square loops 336 are held on inactive needles 336 and the loops 339 shown by dotted lines have been cast off the needles.

The two groups of loops 336 contain loops located along the edges 318 and 321 of the body portion and along these edges the sleeves are integrally joined to the body portion in the next stage of knitting. The sleeves 334 are knitted on needles 338 of the bed 308 and the needles 336 of the bed 307. The needles 338 are equal in number to the needles 336 and are located opposite those needles. To form the sleeves as shown in FIG. 10E reciprocatory knitting of U-shaped courses on the two groups of needles containing needles 336 and 338 is commenced to knit the shoulder regions 340 of the sleeves, such regions including parts which are integrally joined with the body portion of the blank and which have wales which are continuous with wales in the body portion. The closed end of each U-shaped course is located outwards of the inner end of the course on the needle beds. The U-shaped courses are initially short, the first course comprising only two needles, and the courses are progressively lengthened so that successively more of the needles 336 and 338 are brought into action until finally all the needles 336' and 338 are knitting. In FIG. 10E some only of the needles 336' and 338 have been brought into action, the other needles 336' and 338 being inactive at this stage. When all the needles 336 and 338 have been brought into action the sleeve-body joins have been completed at the front, or back, of the garment and knitting is continued in tubular form on the two groups of needles 336' and 338, as illustrated in FIG. 10F, in order to form the sleeves 334. The sleeves are knitted so that the wales extend longitudinally of them and they are narrowed during knitting by stitch transfer in a conventional manner. Each sleeve is finished by a cuff 335 of mock rib fabric in a conventional structure.

whole width of the beds required for knitting the body portion. The knitting of the garment blank then follows as described above and the result is a string of blanks connected by courses of waste yarn which are later pulled away.

To make up the garment blank into a garment, the waste yarn attached at the waist and to the sleeves and any waste yarn attached to the cuffs is pulled away. The body portion is then folded so that the fabric pieces 313 and 315 lie over the central portion 314 of the body portion and the sleeves are seamed or linked along their edges 341 and 342 to the edges 319 and 320 of the body, respectively. Finally, the edges 343 and 344 of the body portion are provided with fasteners such as buttons and buttonholes or a zip. Alternatively, they may be seamed or linked together to produce a jumper.

The blank can also be knitted in the direction from cuffs to waist. In this case, the sleeves are widened by needle introduction in conventional, manner and needles holding loops are taken out of action progressively to shape the shoulder portions of the sleeves for the sleeve-body joins. The needles 336' are then held inactive whilst the loops on the needles 338 of the bed 308 are pressed off. Next, knitting of the body portion is carried out in the direction from the shoulder regions to the waist. Needles at each side and in the centre of the body portionare brought into action immediately but the remaining needles are brought into action progressively to shape the body portion along the edges 318 321. The wales extending into the body portion from the edges .318 and 321 are knitted integrally with the wales extending into the sleeves from the edges 340 and341.

The body portion can be knitted in rib fabric if desired. The garment blank illustrated in FIG. 11 is knitted in a generally similar way to that illustrated in FIG. 9, and the same reference numerals are used in FIGS. 9 and 11 for corresponding parts of the garment blanks. In the blank of'FIG. 11, the integral sleeve-body joins are made along the edges 319 and 320 of the body instead of along the edges 318 and 321 as in FIG. 9. The U-shaped courses of the shoulder regions 340 of the sleeves are knitted with their closed ends inwards of the open ends on the needle beds. Knitting can be from waist to cuffs or cuffs to waist and needles are progressively taken out of action and reintroduced along the sleevebody join lines in order to bring about a desired angular disposition of sleeve and body wales.

The blank produced by the method of FIG. 11, can serve, like the blank of FIG. 9, for the production of a lumber garment or a jacket or, if the two free edges 343 and 344 of the body portion 311 are seamed together, for the production of a jumper.

The garment blank illustrated in FIG. 12, which can serve only for the production of a jumper is, in general knitted by a method similar to the method described with reference to FIG. 9 and again the same reference numerals are used for corresponding parts of the lgar- I I ment blanks. The direction of knittingcan be from cuffs to waist or from waist to cuffs.

The sleeve-body joins along lines 345,346 and'347, 348 are produced by progressive removal from action of needles holding loops and progressive reintroduction; of these needles. The sleeves 334 are both joined to the same part 349 of the body portion 31 1 which may co nstitute either the front or the back. of the finished garment. Only two pieces of fabric 349 and 350 are knit ted as the upper sectionof thebody portion 311.

To make up a garment from the blank, the free edges 351 and 352 of the body portion are seamed or'link'ed v I together and the free shoulder edges of the sleeves are '7 seamed or linked to the edges 353 and 354 of the body.

When knitting of the body portion is carried out in the direction from waist to shoulder region, the 'edges353; and 354 are caused to lie at an angle to the body wales by progressive casting off of loops during knitting'or by progressively taking needles holding loops out of action. If the latter procedure is followed, the held loops are cast off together when knitting of the body portion, 1 A

is complete. a

If the body portion is knitted second in from the shoulder region to the waist, the shaping of the body portion along the. edges 353 and 354 is 'produced by progressive introduction of needles;

The yarn storage or looper arrangement shown int. FIG. 13 is advantageously fitted to a flat V-bed knitting machine used for carrying out the present invention.

gether in spaced parallel relationship by support members 277, 278 are disposed parallel to and spacedfrorn 1 the carrier rail 272, the support members beingfix'ed w 'j relative to the frame of the knitting machineyA block 279 is slidably mountedon the two rods 275, 276, the

latter being a sliding fit in two parallel bores 280," 281 in the block.

A thirdrod 282 is a sliding fit in a third bore 283 in, the block 279, the axis of the bore. 283 being parallel A to the axes of the bores 280, 281. At its end remote from the block 279, the rod 282 enters a bore 284 in a block 285 secured to the carrier 271 by screws 286;

The rod 282 is clamped in the bore 284 by a scre'w287.f v I A fourth bore 288 in the block 279 has its axjis'disposed in a plane perpendicular to the axes of the bores 280 and 283 but is in communication, with ;the bores 280 and 283. A locking means in the form of a ball 289 is housed in the bore 288, this ball having. aldiameter i slightly smaller than. the bore 288 and slightly larger than the width of the gap 290 between the confronting surfaces of the rods 275 and 282.,The ball 289 rests on.

the rod 275 and projects slightly into the bore 283 where it is received in a recess 291 formed in the. rod 282 at the end of the, latter remote from the carrier 'i 271. The ball serves as a releasable locking means for j locking the block 279 either to the rod 282 or the rod the direction The rod 275 has a recess 292 formed therein which I is disposed close to the stop 274 by suitably'adjusting the axial position of the. rod 275 relative to the support 

1. A method of knitting a blank for production of a garment having sleeves and a body portion with a waist and a neck, comprising the steps, carried out in either order, of a. knitting a piece of non-tubular fabric comprising substantially all parts of the front and rear of the body portions, so that the wales in said fabric piece run in a direction between the waist and the neck of the garment and b. forming both sleeves for the garment substantially contemporaneously by knitting non-tubular sleeve fabric having knitted wales extending in the longitudinal direction of the sleeves, said sleeve fabric including pieces of fabric each of which comprises substantially the whole fabric for a sleeve, said method being further characterized by taking needles out of action, during knitting, progressively along one sleeve-body join line whilst maintaining knitted loops on said needles and then progressively reintroducing said needles to knitting action, whereby wales of the sleeve fabric are joined at an angle to wales of the body fabric in the finished blank and the sleeve fabric is knit integrally with the body fabric.
 2. A method according to claim 1 wherein at least the body fabric is knitted in rib knitting.
 3. A method according to claim 1 including the step of knitting two pieces of flat sleeve fabric, each piece being adapted to form a complete sleeve for the garment.
 4. A method according to claim 3 wherein some only of the sleeve-body joins required in the finished garment are formed on the knitting machine.
 5. A method according to claim 4 including the steps of knitting said body fabric in the form of a unitary body portion and two further body portions attached to opposite side edges thereof, and joining each of said further body portions to a separate one of said pieces of sleeve fabric during knitting along a line extending from the underarm position to the neck in the garment and shaping each piece of sleeve fabric and said unitary body portion to provide adjacent corresponding edges for formation of furthEr sleeve-body joins along lines from the underarm positions to the neck of the garment when the said further body portions are folded under said unitary body portion.
 6. A method according to claim 4 including the steps of knitting said body fabric in the form of a front body portion and a rear body portion for the garment, joining each of said separate pieces of sleeve fabric during knitting to a separate one of said body portions along a line extending from the underarm position to the neck in the garment, and shaping each piece of sleeve fabric and said two body portions to provide adjacent corresponding edges for the formation of further sleeve-body joins along lines from the underarm positions to the neck of the garment when said body fabric is folded so that the said body portions lie one on top of the other.
 7. A method according to claim 1 including the steps of knitting two separate pieces of sleeve fabric prior to knitting the body fabric and each adapted to form a complete sleeve for the garment, said pieces of sleeve fabric being knitted on separate needle beds which can be moved relative to one another, causing relative movement of said needle beds to locate the pieces of sleeve fabric so that on continued knitting to form said body fabric the two pieces of sleeve fabric will both be joined to a single body portion of said body fabric, continuing the knitting to form the body fabric comprising the said body portion and a further body portion and so as to join the pieces of sleeve fabric to said first mentioned body portion along lines extending from underarm positions to the neck of the garment and shaping said further body portion and the pieces of sleeve fabric to form adjacent corresponding edges for further sleeve-body joins along lines from the underarm positions to the neck of the garment when the said body fabric is folded so that the body portions lie one on top of the other.
 8. A method of making a garment comprising producing a blank by the method of claim 1, folding said blank so that body portions thereof lie one on top of the other and said pieces of sleeve fabric are folded to form sleeves, and seaming along at least one edge of each sleeve and along any other unjoined seam lines in said garment.
 9. A knitted blank for making up into a garment having sleeves and a body section with a waist and a neck, the blank comprising a. a piece of non-tubular flat fabric constituted by portions for the front and rear of the body of the garment, the wales of said fabric extending in the direction between waist and neck; and b. one or more pieces of non-tubular flat fabric to form sleeves for the garment with wales extending longitudinally of the sleeves; the body and sleeve fabrics being integral with one another and the sleeve fabric being angularly joined to the body fabric along fashioned join lines, said lines being the locus of knitted junctions between the wales of the body fabric and the angularly disposed wales of the sleeve fabric.
 10. A knitted blank according to claim 9 comprising two pieces of flat sleeve fabric, each piece being adapted to form a complete sleeve for the garment.
 11. A knitted blank according to claim 10, wherein said body fabric comprises a unitary body portion and two further body portions attached to opposite side edges thereof, and wherein each piece of sleeve fabric is joined to a different one of said two further body portions along a line extending from an underarm position to the neck in the garment and each piece of sleeve fabric and said unitary body portion are shaped to provide adjacent corresponding edges for formation of further sleeve-body joins along lines from the underarm positions to the neck when the body fabric is folded so that the body portions lie one on top of the other.
 12. A knitted blank according to claim 10 wherein said body fabric comprises front and rear body portions and each piece of sleeve fabric is joined to a different body portion along a line extending from an undeRarm position to the neck of the garment and wherein each piece of sleeve fabric and said body portions are shaped to provide adjacent corresponding edges for formation of further sleeve-body joins when said body fabric is folded so that said body portions lie one on top of the other.
 13. A knitted blank according to claim 10 wherein said body fabric comprises front and rear body portions and the pieces of sleeve fabric are joined to the same body portion along lines extending from underarm positions to the neck, and wherein the other of said body portions and the sleeve fabrics are shaped to provide adjacent corresponding edges for further sleeve-body joins along lines extending from underarm positions to the neck when the body fabric is folded to cause said body portions to lie one on top of the other.
 14. A method of making a blank for production of a garment having sleeves and a body portion with a waist and a neck, the method comprising the steps, in either order, of machine knitting a piece of non-tubular flat fabric to serve as a body for the garment, said piece of fabric comprising substantially all parts of the front and rear of the body, and knitting said piece of fabric so that knitted wales extend therein in the direction between the waist and the neck of the garment, forming sleeves for the garment by knitting two pieces of tubular fabric substantially contemporaneously on opposed needle beds of the machine, said pieces of tubular fabric having wales extending longitudinally of the sleeves, each of said pieces of tubular fabric comprising substantially the whole fabric for a sleeve, knitting said body fabric and said sleeves so that they are integral with one another by knitting a part of each sleeve and an associated part of the body so that wales are continuous between each of the sleeve parts and its associated body part, and during knitting taking needles out of action progressively along at least one sleeve-body join line whilst maintaining knitted loops on those needles and then progressively re-introducing the needles to knitting action whereby wales of the sleeves joined to wales of the body lie at an angle to those wales in the finished blank.
 15. A method as claimed in claim 14, wherein the body fabric is knitted in rib knitting and the stitches of the body fabric are transferred to needles of one needle bed before knitting the sleeves.
 16. A method as claimed in claim 14, wherein the body fabric comprises a unitary front or rear body portion having attached to each of its opposite side edges a further body portion, the two further body portions together constituting the rear or front of the garment, and wherein each sleeve is joined during knitting to a separate one of the said two further body portions along a line extending from the underarm position to the neck in the garment, each sleeve and the said unitary body portion being shaped to provide corresponding edges for formation of further sleeve-body joins along lines from the underarm positions to the neck of the garment, the corresponding edges being located adjacent one another when the said further body portions are folded under the said unitary body portion.
 17. A method as claimed in claim 14, wherein the body fabric comprises a front body portion and a rear body portion, and each sleeve is joined during knitting to a separate one of the body portions along a line extending from the underarm position to the neck in the garment, each sleeve and the two body portions being shaped to provide corresponding edges for the formation of further sleeve-body joins along lines from the underarm positions to the neck of the garment, the corresponding edges being located adjacent one another when the body fabric is folded so that the said body portions lie one on top of the other.
 18. A method as claimed in claim 14, wherein the body fabric comprises a front body portion and a rear body portion and the sleeves are joined during knitting to the same one of the said body portions along lines extEnding from underarm positions to the neck in the garment, each sleeve and the other of the said body portions being shaped during knitting to form corresponding edges thereon for formation of further sleeve-body joins along lines from the underarm positions to the neck of the garment, the corresponding edges being located adjacent one another when the body fabric is folded so that the body portions lie on top of one another.
 19. A knitted blank for making up into a garment having sleeves and a body section with a neck and a waist, the blank comprising a. a piece of non-tubular flat fabric constituted by portions for the front and rear of the body of the garment, the wales of said fabric extending in the direction between waist and neck, and b. two pieces of tubular fabric to form sleeves for garment with wales extending longitudinally of the sleeves; the body and sleeve fabrics being integral with one another and the sleeve fabric being angularly joined to the body fabric along fashioned join lines, said lines being the locus of knitted junctions between the wales of the body fabric and the angularly disposed wales of the sleeve fabric.
 20. A knitted blank according to claim 19, wherein said body fabric comprises a unitary body portion and two further body portions attached to opposite side edges thereof, and wherein each piece of sleeve fabric is joined to a different one of said two further body portions along a line extending from an underarm position to the neck in the garment and each piece of sleeve fabric and said unitary body portion are shaped to provide adjacent corresponding edges for formation of further sleeve-body joins along lines from the underarm positions to the neck when the body fabric is folded so that the said body portions lie one on top of the other.
 21. A knitted blank according to claim 19, wherein said body fabric comprises front and rear body portions and each piece of sleeve fabric is joined to a different body portion along a line extending from an underarm position to the neck of the garment and wherein each piece of sleeve fabric and said body portions are shaped to provide adjacent corresponding edges for formation of further sleeve-body joins when said body fabric is folded so that said body portions lie one on top of the other.
 22. A knitted blank according to claim 19, wherein said body fabric comprises front and rear body portions and the pieces of sleeve fabric are joined to the same body portion along lines extending from underarm positions to the neck, and wherein the other of said body portions and the sleeve fabrics are shaped to provide adjacent corresponding edges for further sleeve-body joins along lines extending from underarm positions to the neck when the body fabric is folded to cause said body portions to lie one on top of the other. 